All I Ask of You
by Jimaine
Summary: Amanda finds Kurt in a tree the night after DOR. The girls confront Jean on her feelings for Scott. Toad gets chased by jocks. More Kurnda. Anti-mutant & anti-human hatred. Logan & Ororo. All UNRELATED songfics
1. All I Ask of You

****

All I Ask of You

****

AMANDA

No more talk

of darkness,

Forget these

wide-eyed fears.

I'm here,

nothing can harm you -

my words will

warm and calm you.

Kurt looked up, astonished, through the hair that barred his vision. Amanda stood on the ground below him and was seemingly searching for a way to get up to him.

"How - how did you find me?" Kurt stuttered. Even his teammates hadn't been able to find him, secured as he was in one of the trees on the far end of the Xavier Institute grounds. Jean had been far too tired to perform a mindscan, especially with keeping people from noticing that the Brotherhood boarding house was a little more full than usual. The Brotherhood, especially Wanda (now bearing the entirely appropriate name Scarlet Witch), hadn't been willing at all to forgive Mystique for giving their secret away to the world. Although the 'shifter had fled the ruins of the Institute in bird form, the only thing that kept her tail unsinged was that Ororo was far to tired to go after her.

Neither the X-Men nor their allies-by-default had felt much like talking, so they ate something and sought a place to sleep - which, for the X-Men, was more often than not the floor. But Kurt couldn't sleep, no matter how much he needed it. So he'd wandered back to the Institute, unable to shake the idea that it was all an awful dream.

But why would _Amanda_ be in a nightmare?

She shrugged as she gained the first branch. "After I saw you on the news, I - I was worried. I know you've kept you and your friends identities secret, and I saw a bunch of you get captured by that - whatever it was."

He sighed as Amanda gained on him. "It's called a Sentinel. It's a mutant hunter-killer robot."

She nearly fell out of the tree with her gasp. "A _what_? Why? There's nothing _wrong_ with you!"

"You're the first person I've met who thought that," he hesitated. "You were worried? About me?"

"Of course I was worried about you, you fuzzy-brained blue elf!" she shook her head when Kurt just gave her a strange look, as if he wasn't used to being cared about by anyone other than those like him. "As to how I found you, I figured out that the kids at the boarding house were mutants too, and that you'd end up there after . . ."

"Mystique blew it up," Kurt growled.

Amanda just nodded as she finally came even with him on a different branch. "So I went there, and Jean answered the door and subjected me to what she called a 'mind-probe' without so much as a by-your-leave."

"Let me guess: Storm gave her a blistering lecture on it afterward."

"Yeah. I didn't need my head looked over like a filing cabinet. It was uncomfortable, to say the least," she grumbled. "Then they said you were upstairs and asleep, but when Jean telepathically looked for you and didn't find you, the white-haired woman - "

"Miss Munroe."

"Right. Said you were probably out to catch a breath of air, and that it wasn't worth trying to find you."

He cocked his head at her. "You came after me anyway?"

"Well, sure," there was her shrug again as she hoped he couldn't see her blush. "Like I said: I was worried about you."

****

AMANDA

Let me be

your freedom,

let daylight

dry your tears.

I'm here,

with you, beside you,

to guard you

and to guide you . . .

They sat in companionable silence for some time, Kurt trying to sort out everything that was happening without becoming loudly hysterical. Or quietly hysterical, either, although he was edging towards it. "I've - never heard that from anyone but the Romani I was raised with. And the X-Men, but . . ."

"They're all mutants too, and those who grew up with you were used to your quirks," Amanda finished for him. His comment alerted her that she would have to tread lightly if she followed up on it. _What will happen if I do - and what will happen if I don't?_ Either choice was open to her, especially as Kurt had fallen silent again. _If I don't, Kurt might not know I'm sincere. That I do understand where he's coming from, and why he's afraid - though he won't admit it - to feel anything besides basic friendship where I'm concerned. Because I'm human, and might turn my back on him any moment_. She silently cursed those who had forced Kurt to need that mentality; she had no doubt that he did need it. _So if I do follow up on it, if I can get him to see that I mean what I'm saying_ . . . That scared her almost as much as Kurt thinking she was playing him for a fool. She had had a few boyfriends before, but none of them had affected her the way he had. Before she met him, she'd never believed in Love At First Sight, or even that she'd ever really love anyone before _she_ decided _she_ was ready. 

However. 

__

I think - I think I really do_ love him. Blue fur, elfin ears, fangs, yellow eyes, spaded tail, BAMFs and all_.

****

KURT

Say you love me

every

waking moment,

turn my head

with talk of summertime . . .

"I find it hard to believe that I'm the first human to find out about you," Amanda's comment surprised Kurt. "How long have you had that watch?"

"Only since I came to the Institute. The Professor designed it for me," Kurt answered, a bit puzzled. "Before then, if I wanted to go anywhere off the grounds the troupe had claimed, I had to wear a robe that rather resembled a monk's habit. The few times someone who wasn't Romani discovered that I wasn't wearing a costume I found myself coveted by pitchforks and torches."

"So am I the only human who's ever discovered you and liked what I saw?"

Kurt stared at her for a moment. "You - I know, I mean, you couldn't possibly have hidden it this long if you thought I looked demonic - but you don't just ignore it, the way I look, you - " he couldn't force any more out of his throat. He was incredulous, and more than a little afraid.

She smiled, a little shyly. "You _are_ cute, you know. You're beautiful inside and out, Kurt."

****

KURT

Say you need me

with you,

now and always . . .

promise me that all

you say is true -

that's all I ask

of you . . .

Kurt was absolutely stunned speechless. His foster parents, the Romani, had all expressed similar sentiments before, but this was _Amanda_. American born and bred, having never seen him before he made a mistake with his image inducer. One she wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't been staring dreamily at him at the time, she'd confessed red-faced.

He had always assumed that the only reason she hadn't confronted him earlier was because she was getting over his demonic appearance. It hadn't occurred to him, especially after she had been so fearless when faced with him at close range, that she simply might have been shy.

Even some of the Romani had been able to do little more than ignore his mutation.

Yet she, a girl who'd been raised in a contemporary American home, who'd never met with anything stranger than the occasional exchange student, not only _accepted_ his oddities, she _liked_ them!

Amanda bit her lip a little, and tried her very best to keep from babbling. She had so many things she desperately wanted to say, a small idea of how to say a few of them, but none of it would work if it all came out in one breath! "I - I _do_ mean that, I mean, as Disney as it came out, it's true. A second look is really all it takes to see a fun-loving elf, not some sort of demon. Everything from the fur to the tail is uniquely you, and I wouldn't change anything. Except maybe the fact that I'm telling you this and my face is bright red (which I'm sure you can see) and I'm sitting in a tree which means I can't make an awkward escape and now you're staring at me as if I've grown Angel's wings."

_Well, there goes my ability to control my babble_.

****

AMANDA

Let me be

your shelter,

let me

be your light.

You're safe:

No-one will find you

your fears are

far behind you . . .

Amanda's sudden silence snapped Kurt out of his astonished trance. "_Mein Gott_," he whispered. "You - really?"

She nodded. "I always thought so," she paused, then continued. "I also think you needed that. Like I had to tell you, especially after what happened, that not every human is going to react in fear and hatred. I didn't want to give you a chance to start thinking of me in those terms. I . . ."

She couldn't say it.

_I have to say it!_ she mentally shouted at her throat, trying to force words past her fear. _I have to say it, but I have to explain, too! And give Kurt a chance to talk!_

Kurt stared at her as if in a trance. It was becoming more and more likely that this really was a dream. He hadn't even told her about the others being mutants, let alone that he ran around in red-on-black spandex and tried to protect an unwary world from mutants with 'plans'. Yet she came after him, willing to give up her own sleep and risk the other X-Men's displeasure to come and find him. If she was lying, would she have gone through all that trouble? Would she be _that_ red if she wasn't telling the truth? "I can hardly believe what I'm saying, but I believe you. That you actually think that," he said slowly, as if he was still convincing himself even as he said it.

"Oh good," she breathed, voice a bit higher than normal because of tension. "Because I think I've gone and fallen in love with you."

This time he _did_ fall out of the tree.

"Kurt?" she leaned over the branch he'd been perching on, long hair arrayed around her face by branches. Kurt looked up at her, yellow eyes shocked. Amanda giggled at the sight of him sprawled under the tree. "Sorry," she called down apologetically. "I didn't know you were going to fall out!"

"You **what**?!" Kurt screeched, as if it the meaning of what she'd said only now penetrated. "But - How - I - Amanda, we're only sixteen!" he sat up slowly, making sure he hadn't hurt himself. His tail was complaining about being squashed but other than that he seemed fine.

"Yeah, I noticed that," she gathered her hair up from the tree, wincing a few times as it pulled, then threw it all over one shoulder so it wouldn't get tangled as much on her way down. "I just can't seem to find another explanation of why a day doesn't go by where I don't think of you."

"I _am_ rather unforgettable," he gave a weak grin.

Amanda laughed as she jumped off the last branch. "That you are, Kurt. I'm sorry I knocked you out of the tree." She murmured, "Maybe I shouldn't have said anything."

"_Nein_," he shook his head. "I think I needed to fall out of the tree."

Now it was Amanda's turn to send a confused look.

Kurt tried to explain. "You know I grew up like this. I've always had to be careful around people, and it turned into an excuse not to get close to anyone. I'm just so used to thinking that people will run screaming from me that you're something new. It took falling out of a tree to get the truth knocked into me."

_That was a little confused_ . . . He hoped she understood what he was trying to say so obliquely.

****

KURT

All I want

is freedom,

a world with

no more night . . .

and you

always beside me

to hold me

and to hide me . . .

"So you don't think I'm nuts?"

Kurt laughed as he stood up, pulling Amanda off the grass. "I think you're nuts for falling in love with an elf, but - no. Come on. I think you ought to be properly introduced to the X-Men and the Brotherhood before we go gallivanting off to the others rescue."

****

AMANDA

Then say you'll share with

me one

love, one lifetime . . .

Let me lead you

from your solitude . . .

"And you ought to meet some of my friends. Maybe not _you_, fuzzy, but I think you'd like them. I know they'll like you," she linked their arms and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked back toward the boarding house. Then she sighed. "Are you sure?"

"What?"

"Are you sure the other Institute people even want you seeing me? As a human I'm kind of a liability," she pointed out.

****

AMANDA

Say you want me

with you

here, beside you . . .

anywhere you go,

let me go too -

that's all I ask

of you . . .

Kurt rolled his eyes even though no one could tell, what with them being golden from lid to lid. "That would make us as prejudiced as them, which would be Dumb."

You could hear the capital. Amanda giggled. "Good. So, shall we stick together no matter what everyone else thinks?"

"Why should what they think make a difference? I don't see you deciding I'm a demon," he paused. "Thank you, by the way."

"For what?"

"One: for coming to get me. I was probably going to end up spending all night brooding in the tree."

"Don't brood. It doesn't suit you."

Kurt laughed. "_Ja, libeling_. Whatever you say. And . . . for looking twice."

****

KURT

Say you'll share with

me one

love, one lifetime . . .

say the word

and I will follow you . . .

She smiled. "You're more than welcome, Kurt, although I personally think I got the better end of the deal. A fuzzy elf of my very own."

****

BOTH

Share each day with

me, each

night, each morning . . .

He looked down at Amanda, her long hair tangled with twigs and dark brown eyes looking up - but only a little - at him. For a breathless moment, the world stopped.

****

AMANDA

Say you love me . . .

****

KURT

You know I do . . .

They kiss.

****

BOTH

Love me -

that's all I ask

of you . . .


	2. I Won't Say

Disclaimer: I own neither X-Men Evolution or Hercules. They belong to Disney and Marvel, respectively. (say, what if Marvel owned Herc, and Disney owned . . . **shudder**)

A/N: Jenskot alert!

****

I Won't Say

"So. Jean. Gonna juggle two guys forever or what?"

Jean looked up into the face of Jubilation Lee, appointed second-in-command of the New Mutants and Bobby's feminine counterpart. The entire female population of the Institute backed her, and Jean had the distinct feeling that this was going to be interesting.

_If not painful_.

"What do you mean?" she said, as if she didn't have any idea _what_ Jubilee could _possibly_ be talking about.

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Oh, tall dark and red-eyed over there? And a certain dumb jock whom we could all do without?"

Amara poked Kitty in the ribs with her elbow. Kitty phased, sticking her tongue out at Amara. "What Kitty _means_," Amara elaborated. "is when are you going to figure out that Scott has the hots for you, and vise versa?"

"How do you know it's vise versa?" Jean demanded (inwardly wishing it really wasn't). "After all, I'm dating _Duncan_."

"*cough*dumbjock*cough," from somewhere near Rogue (and with a decidedly southern flavor).

"Everyone can tell," Jubilee informed her. "We just wish you would go with it an not leave the rest of us to deal with _your_ romantic tension!"

"Yeah. Scott's like, too much of a gentleman to like, even tell you while you're still going with tall dumb and blond," Kitty giggled.

Rahne crossed her arms. "Why did ye ever start dating Duncan anyway? Ye've had a better option staring ye in the face the whole time ye've been here!"

*

[Jean]

If there's a prize for rotten judgment,  
I guess I've already won that.  
No man is worth the aggravation -  
That's ancient history, been there, done that! 

[X-girls]

__

Who'd'ya think you're kiddin',   
He's the Earth and heaven to you.  
Try to keep it hidden,   
Honey, we can see right through you.  
Girl, you can't conceal it,   
we know how ya' feel and who you're thinking of.

[Jean] 

No chance, no way, I won't say it, no, no.

[X-girls]  
_You swoon, you sigh, why deny it, uh, oh!_

[Jean]  
It's too cliché, I wont say I'm in love!  
I thought my heart had learned its lesson...  
It feels so good when you start out!  
My head is screaming "Get a grip, girl!  
Unless you're dying to cry your eyes out!" Oh... 

[X-girls]

__

You keep on denying who you are and how you're feeling.  
Baby, we're not buying, Hon, we saw ya' hit the ceiling!  
Face it like a grown up - When 'ya gonna own up  
That ya' got, got, got it bad!

[Jean]  
No chance. no way, I won't say it no, no.

[X-girls]  
_Give up give in, check the grin - you're in love!_

[Jean]  
This scene won't play, I won't say I'm in love... 

[X-girls]

__

You're doin' flips, read our lips, You're in love!

[Jean]  
You're way off base! I won't say it!  
Get off my case! I won't say it!

[X-girls]  
_Girl, don't be proud, it's O.K. you're in love._

[Jean]  
Oh... At least out loud... I won't say I'm in love! 

*

"So. When're ye gonna drop Duncan like last weeks dirty laundry and chase better prey?" Rahne asked, jerking her head in Scott's direction.

Jean began banging her head on the lunch table, over and over and over again.


	3. One Jump

Disclaimer: I own neither XME or Aladin. Disney would probably send a hit man after me if I claimed to own this song . . . 

A/N: Oh, my God. I wrote a Toddfic. Where am I and what have I done with me?

Ah . . . Well . . . It fits (I guess…)

****

One Jump

Todd was under the bleachers again, lightening football fans purses. He was so absorbed in what he was doing, however, that he failed to notice when halftime rolled around and a gang of football jocks catch him at it.

"So, one of the muties decided to prey on normal people," the jock in the middle said.

Toad froze.

"Yo, you wouldn't hit a guy wit' glasses, wouldja?" he grabbed a pair of sunglasses out of someone's pocket and shoved them on.

"Naw," Jock #2 said. "We'd hit 'im with something harder." The jocks approached, in the manner of all threats, slowly, pounding their fists.

"Great," Toad muttered. "They couldn't even come up with a better retort!" Jock #1 took a swing at him, and the mutant leaped over his head.

[Toad:] 

Gotta keep  
One jump ahead of the breadline  
One swing ahead of the sword  
I steal only what I can't afford   
( That's Everything! ) 

One jump ahead of the lawmen  
That's all, and that's no joke  
These guys don't appreciate I'm broke 

[Jocks:]  
Riffraff! Street rat! Scoundrel! Take that! 

[Toad:] 

Just a little snack, guys 

[Jocks:]   
Rip him open, take it back, guys 

[Toad:]   
I can take a hint, gotta face the facts  
You're my only friend, Abu! 

[Jocks:]

Who?

Toad racing out from under the bleachers, pelting past the audience and using the bench the cheerleaders were as a springboard into the crowd.

[Cheerleaders:]   
Oh it's sad Tolensky's hit the bottom  
He's become a one-man rise in crime

[Cheerleader's Coach]  
I'd blame parents except he hasn't got 'em 

[Toad:]   
Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat  
Tell you all about it when I got the time! 

One jump ahead of the slowpokes  
One skip ahead of my doom  
Next time gonna use a nom de plume  
One jump ahead of the hitmen  
One hit ahead of the flock  
I think I'll take a stroll around the block 

[Jocks:]   
Stop, thief! Vandal! Outrage! Scandal! 

[Toad:]   
Let's not be too hasty 

[Cheerleader:]   
Still I think he's rather tasty 

[Toad:]   
Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat  
Otherwise we'd get along 

[Jocks:] 

Wrong! 

The Jocks chased him through the crowd as he ran through the audience, ignoring whether he was leaping on a person or a bench. "Watch where you're going, you freak!" one of the audience members shouted after getting jumped on. A mob of angry parents/supporters joined the small group of Jocks chasing Toad.

"Wonderful. Got my own personal little hate-group!"

[Toad:]  
One jump ahead of the hoofbeats  
(Mutant!)  
One hop ahead of the hump  
(Street rat!)  
One trick ahead of disaster  
(Scoundrel!)  
They're quick, but I'm much faster  
(Take that!)  
Here goes, better throw my hand in  
Wish me happy landin'  
All I gotta do is JUMP...

Todd glancing behind him at the growing mob. Then he leaped over the edge of the stands and ran.


	4. Love Will Find a Way

Disclaimer: I own neither XME nor "Simba's Pride" (thank GOD!)

A/N: I seem to be doing a lot of Disney stuff lately . . .

A/NII: Okay, this takes place right after "The Toad, the Witch and the Wardrobe". Am I the only one who noticed that the very first on-screen kiss in this entire show was between WANDA and TODD?!?! How random was that?? grr. KurtnManda. Or at least Jean and Scott!

****

Love Will Find A Way

"I'm not giving up on us."

What had prompted those words? What was so special about him that she was willing to risk her world - everything she'd known, her parents, her friends if his mutation ever came out?

So she told him. It was like she could read his mind, maybe not telepathically, the way the Professor could, but . . . Empathically. She always seemed to know how he was feeling, when to yell at him for being paranoid, when to laugh, and when to just sit next to him and put her head in his shoulder. Sure, she was a little intense something - she hated his image-inducer with an unforeseen vengeance.

Sometimes, sabotage is the only answer.

"I won't give up on us, Manda, I promise," he covered her hand on his check with his own, not cringing at touching someone else because he knew she wouldn't cringe. Would never. "It's so hard sometimes, though," he shifted position and they continued walking, arms around each other. Since she was nearly as tall as him she couldn't rest her head on his shoulder and walk at the same time, so they mostly watched each other when they could spare sight from the path. "One of these days, I'm going to get fed up and bamf to school without the image-inducer."

She smiled at him, that slightly mischievous, mostly _happy_ smile that was one of the first things he'd fallen for before she asked him to the dance. "I look forward to it."

*

[Amanda]

In a perfect world,

One we've never know

We would never need

To face the world alone.

They can have their world

We'll create our own

I may not be a mutant like Kurt,

But somewhere in my secret heart I know

Love will find a way

Anywhere I go

I'm home

If you are there beside me

Like dark

Turning into day

Somehow we'll pull through

Now that I've found you

Love will find a way

[Kurt]

I was so afraid

Then I realized

Love is never wrong

And so, it never dies.

There's a perfect world

Shining in your eyes

[Both]

And if only they could feel it too

The happiness I feel with you I know

Love will find a way

Anywhere we go

We're home

If we are there together

Like dark

Turning into day

Somehow we'll pull through

Now that I'm with you

Love will find a way

*

They walked a little farther, conversation having turned to menial, everyday things. After all, that's what they were trying to do, right? Live "normal" lives in the midst of fear. So Amanda dragged a laughing Kurt to the top of a hill in the small clearing to look at the stars, and curled up against his side when they lay down to get a less neck-breaking view. This gave his tail all sorts of sordid ideas, most of which they managed to stave of despite it's best attempts.

Finally, Amanda sat up. "Well, unfortunately, it's getting cold, and my parents think I'm at Candy's house working on a 'project'."

Kurt levered himself up by his elbows, then clambered to his feet. Reaching down a hand to help her up, he pulled her to her feet with a little extra power so she flew toward him for a moment. "Then I suppose I had better escort you back to your - erm, would you call that a car?"

"Yes, fuzz ball," she elbowed him. "And as your teleportation, due to adverse effects on the teleportee, does not count as a speedy form of transportation, I'm the only one of us who has one. Hah!"

"And whoooo shows up to school every day in a convertible?"

"_Scott's_ convertible. Brr! It is definitely cold!" Amanda rubbed her hands together, then looked sideways at Kurt, who didn't seem to be cold at all.

Then she tackled him.

"Ahh! _Liebe_, what are you doing?!"

"You're _warm!_" she informed him, burrowing her hands underneath the large, floppy t-shirt he was wearing over a long-sleeved shirt. "If you think I'm letting go before I turn the heat on in my car, you've lost it," she teased. They'd reached her car, a batter '86 Oldsmobile that was only half repainted. "What does 'liebe' mean?"

"Ah . . . love. It just sort of . . . popped out," Kurt looked vaguely nervous, as if he weren't sure whether or not it was something he should have said (or whether he should have lied about what it meant!).

She smiled.

"Thank you," she reached up a little and kissed him on the nose.

It was quiet for a moment.

"On the nose?" he demanded exasperatingly, and Amanda burst out laughing. "So _Todd_ can kiss _Wanda_ and all I get is a kiss on the nose?!"

"Oh, c'mere elf."

Kurt's very happy tail twined around Amanda's waist as they kissed.

*

I know love will

Find a

way . . .


	5. Savages

Disclaimer: Ye gods! Another Disney song! Well, that's because I found a site with the words to everything disney, so I don't have to go a-hunting . . . It's from "Pocohontas", not a great movie, but the animation is kinda cool and the music ROCKS. Also, as was previously mentioned, I don't own XME. Can you imagine if I did? **shudders**

A/N: Boo! I'm back. Sorta. This was originally going to be inside a long, involved prose piece with dialogue and other such fancy things, but I got fed up and decided it was all too cliché. However, I love this song and really liked the mutant lyric changes I made, which SHOULD all fit rhythmically (I hope!), and decided to just post this.

A/NII: I received two requests for Ro/Lo after my last update, and I am honoring those requests (eh, so I'm a Ro/Lo shipper - they haven't introduced Mariko yet, now _have_ they?!). It may take a bit more, but the song fits their relationship (as I see it, anyway) perfectly. It's a cute song too.

Dedication: To anyone who's ever written Kurnda and/or who's given one of the mutants a human significant other. All human. No aliens, no other mutants, no dimension-hoppers and no magic-users. A special mention must be made of Neva, head of the Anti-Xavier cause and the human-girlfriend cause (I swear, we're the only two who bought passages on that ship!). Another to Internutter, a longtime Kurtty, who is into the THIRTIETH chapter of her first-ever Kurnda! Check these two out, as well as everybody else on my favs list!

Uh . . . Yeah. Read the fic!

****

Savages

(_FOH has captured Kurt, and Mags is gonna get revenge. 'Manda's trying to stop all concerned_)

[Magneto:]   
What can you expect  
From filthy little heathens?  
Their whole disgusting race is like a curse  
They're so good at being lead  
They're only good when dead  
They're vermin, as I said  
And worse 

[Brotherhood]   
They're savages! Savages! 

[Magneto]   
Merely little humans 

[Brotherhood]   
Savages! Savages! 

[Magneto]   
Drive them from our shore!  
They're not like you and me  
Which means they must be evil  
We must sound the drums of war! 

[Brotherhood]   
They're savages! Savages!  
Dirty human devils!  
Now we sound the drums of war! 

[Trask]   
This is what we feared  
Wagner is a mutant  
The curse from which we struggle to be freed 

[Graydon Creed]  
Beneath that furry hide  
There's emptiness inside  


[FOH]   
I wonder if they even bleed?

They're savages! Savages!  
Never were they human  
Savages! Savages! 

[Trask]   
Killers at the core 

[Graydon Creed]   
They're different from us  
Which means they can't be trusted 

[Trask]   
We must sound the drums of war 

[FOH]  
They're savages! Savages!  
First we deal with this one 

[All]   
Then we sound the drums of war 

[Brotherhood]   
Savages! Savages! 

[Mystique]   
Let's go kill a few, men!  


[FOH]   
Savages! Savages! 

[Magneto]   
Now it's up to you, men! 

[All]   
Savages! Savages!  
Barely even human!  
Now we sound the drums of war!  


[Amanda]  
Is there nothing I can do?  
Will this really be the end?  
Is it only death that waits  
Just around the riverbend? 

[Magneto]   
This will be the day ...  
(Let's go men!) 

[Trask]   
This will be the morning ...  
(Bring out the prisoner!) 

[Brotherhood and FOH]   
We will see them dying in the dust 

[Amanda]   
I don't know what I can do  
Still, I know I've got to try 

[Brotherhood]   
Now we make 'em pay 

[Amanda]   
Now I need my feet to fly 

[FOH]  
Now without a warning ... 

[Amanda]   
How could they give way to hate? 

[Brotherhood and FOH]   
Now we leave 'em blood and bone and rust 

[Amanda]   
Will anyone hear my cry ... 

[Brotherhood and FOH]   
It's them or us!

[Amanda]   
Please don't let it be too late ... 

[Brotherhood and FOH]  
They're just a bunch of  
Filthy, stinking 

[Brotherhood]   
Savages! 

[FOH]   
Savages! 

[Brotherhood]   
Demons! 

[FOH]   
Devils! 

[Magneto]   
Kill them! 

[FOH]   
Savages! 

[Brotherhood]   
Savages! 

[Magneto]   
What are we waiting for? 

[All]   
Destroy their evil race  
Until there's not a trace left 

[Amanda]   
How loud are the drums of war? 

[Brotherhood and FOH]  
We will sound the drums of war  
(Savages! Savages!)  
Now, we sound the drums of war  
(Savages! Savages!) 

[Magneto]  
Now we see what comes  
Of trying to be chums 

[FOH]  
Now we sound the drums ... of ... 

[Brotherhood]   
Of course it means the drums ... of ... 

[Amanda]   
Is the death of all I love  
Carried in the drumming of …

[All]  
**WAR!**


	6. Remember Me This Way

Disclaimer: Oh, woe unto the day when my dream to own this show comes true . . .

(aka, me no own XME)

A/N: Ah . . . Right . . . I used to right _fanfiction_. Sorry about the wait, I told y'all this thing was only going to be updated sporadically. Now, I have something to clear up: This is merely a collection of all my XME songfics. There is no plot, they are all unrelated.

****

Remember Me This Way

"Logan!"

He winced. He'd actually been hoping he could get out of here without having to see her, but she seemed to have a sixth sense that pertained only to when he was leaving the Institute for long periods of time. "Ah - 'Roro."

"You are leaving again," her voice was accusatory. "Just when we are getting back on our feet, you turn tail. Did Evan leaving throw you off so badly that you feel it would be all right to leave Xavier, Hank and I with the students? Four teachers are barely enough to keep them in control normally, Wolverine. You know that with Evan's - desertion - it has become more difficult."

He hadn't turned to face her yet. He knew what her face would look like - every time she'd managed to confront him before he'd gone away, it had looked the same. For three years they'd been the only permanent residents at the Institute, with Xavier's sometime-students or short-term students popping in every once in a while. The first time he'd gone away had been the hardest, and it hadn't gotten easier since. Walking out that door with someone like Ororo standing behind you and demanding you stay is hard, but he'd done it before. He was sure - almost sure - he could do it again.

"I know, Roro. But I gotta get outta here. Not for long, but - this place's so damn crowded. If I don't leave I think I'll hurt something."

"Then hurt it," Storm demanded in a cold voice. "We need you here."

He almost accused her of being Mystique. Ororo had never - _never_ - spoken to him like that. It was rare enough that Ororo showed emotion at all - that she was so angry at him for leaving was slightly shocking.

"_What_?" he turned to her. Ororo's face - somehow more intense that it usually was, when he left. "Who are you, and what in the _hell_ have you done with Ororo?"

Her face lightened a bit, lightened in sadness with a hint of despair. "She has gone into hiding," came the almost-whispered answer. "The world knows about us, Wolverine. Our faces have been splattered all over the news. It - frightens me. In a way I have never been frightened before," the cold mask came mostly off and Ororo Munroe stood there again, or a version of her at least, with her arms wrapped around her shoulders as if she were cold. "I have always had the trump card my mutation gave me. Only now my opponent has snatched a glimpse at my deck, and nothing I do is really - secret. There have only ever been a few people I have put my trust and assurance in, Logan. By nature, I do not trust easily. With Evan gone now, it has come down to you," she looked at him with eyes he thought he knew. Bright, brilliant blue, a strand of long white hair hanging delicately over one. They were the eyes of an African goddess - and to him, perhaps to him alone, they showed an inner vulnerability.

*

[Ororo]

Every now and then

You find a special friend

Who never lets us down

Who understands it all

Reaches out each time we fall

You're the best friend that I've found

I know you can't stay

But part of you will never ever go away

Your heart will stay

*

Ororo had been alone, above - or below - it all for most of her life. When she became _part_ of life, instead of a bystander, he had been there.

"I know your nature, Logan. You wander, but you always come home. I - yes, I, I wish you to stay, not because of the students or because of the public knowledge of mutants, but - because of me. Yes, yes I am that selfish," her blue eyes hardened a bit, became more familiar in their determination. "I have known you since you came here more than half-mad, and you have known me. We have been _friends_," the stress in the word was slightly aggravated. "for all that long time. Have I ever yet asked something of you I did not truly need? I - me, myself and I, all alone - need . . . Goddess!" she exclaimed, as if suddenly realizing she had gone on a full-blown tangent. "I . . . Yes," she waved her hand at the silent Wovlerine. "Go, Wolverine. Nothing I have ever said before has stopped you."

The bag slid off his shoulder.

*

[Logan]

I'll make a wish for you

And hope it will come true

That life would just be kind

To such a gentle mind

If you lose your way, think back on yesterday

Remember me that day

Remember me that day

*

"Maybe, darlin', but the world, as you just reminded me, has changed quite a bit since my last jaunt. An' I think the Institute changed, too, in ways I mighta missed," he took a step towards the still weather-witch, bringing them about three feet apart. "Finish what ya were going to say."

Ororo sucked in a breath, steeling herself. "I need a _friend_. You are something I have never been able to replicate. Why do you think I confront you every time you take to wandering, though I know it will get me no where? And Charles is wonderful, but being a telepath can_not_ replace a night spent talking about days when life was far, far different than the comfort we suffer in this place," there was just the hint of a grin at the word 'suffer' on both mouths.

"Yeah," Logan nodded, her grin widening. "we did do that a time or two, didn't we?"

Storm laughed. "_Two_? If you will recall, we stayed up at least four different times our very first year here."

"Look, Ro," Logan sighed. "We've done the "pouring-our-hearts-out-to-each-other" thing more times than I care to think about. Chuck can't get into my head well - you think he knows half of what you know about me?"

Ororo's smile turned mischievous. "I highly doubt he knows about the pink - "

"Not one more word. Yer in a house fulla telepaths."

She restricted her smile to one shared between two people who do, truly, know everything about one another. "Stay. We both go a little insane in this place sometimes, Goddess knows for similar reasons. Did it never occur to you that I need you for balance - just as you need me?"

"I don't think I've ever met anyone like you, Ro," Logan shook his head. Reaching up, he put a hand on her shoulder. "Alright. But you have to help me unpack."


End file.
